Dark Shadows Dr Julia Hoffman and Barnabus Collins (chapters 1-4 of10)
by a-posy-of-dandys
Summary: This is parts 1-4 of what will be 10 chapters. 1. Julia and Barnabus meet for his second blood transfusion. 2. Julia follows Barnabus to his meeting with Angelique. 3. Barnabus Kills Julia. 4. Julia's past & plans
1. Chapter 1

Dr Hoffman scrutinized her reflection, had it faded at all she wondered, if anything her hair seemed even brighter today, perhaps her face was fading, then she remembered that she had re-dyed it. That was the trouble with whiskey, it had a nasty side effect of making you forget the little things. She felt a hand on her shoulder and a murmur, it sounded like 'help' but when she reached up to touch the hand it was gone. Barnabus stood on the other side of the room and she cursed him for creeping up on her, told him that he had mother issues. He said he hadn't been near her, why would he, vampires have no desire to toy with humans, as far as he was concerned they were only good for one thing. Dinner. Dr Hoffman sighed as she fixed herself a drink, if only he knew the strange power he had over her and of the power she longed to have over him. Sure she could dangle a medallion and enthrall him like a kitten with a yarn ball but there was no return on that, no physical gratification.

"I suppose you're here for your treatment?" she asked "or is there someth..."

"Yes my treatment, I trust you have adequate supplies"

"Oh, yes it's uh... actually it might take a while longer, it's just going through the system, why don't we see what we have to talk about?"

Barnabus looked up, straight through Dr Hoffman, she shuddered under his gaze feeling as though he was studying her deepest thoughts.

"Why are you helping me?" He spoke gruffly, as he watched her Julia's eyes flickered momentarily as if she was hiding something, she quickly regained her composure straightening her back and crossing the room towards him.

"Because... I care about the future of this family and your happiness is a part of that." She placed a hand on his shoulder his muscles tensed as he remembered how he had let himself be lured the last time, that was not what he was here for, what remained of his heart belonged to Vicky now even if she didn't know it yet. The change in him sent a jarring sensation up Julia's arm and her heart felt like it was beating a little heavier and she felt her blood was thick as tar.  
"I'm sure the blood must be ready by now" she said breezily but inside she was disappointed in herself for letting his response change her plans; however she knew that this was the only way she could really gain his trust and by doing that achieve her dream of immortality.

"Good" he replied quietly and in a sulking tone said, "I don't feel more human"  
"You've only done one session, give it some time" she whispered as her hand slid down the inside of his translucent forearm looking for his blue veins. She found what she was looking for and forced her thumb into the crease of his elbow, his blood pulsed against the pad of her thumb and she felt her own heart rate quicken as she slipped the needle into his arm. He shivered at the shock and Dr Hoffman withdrew her hand gliding her fingers down the outside of his forearm circling over the inside of his wrist as she withdrew her hand. He clenched his fist as she did so and she felt the strength that lurked within his body. The pump whirred in the otherwise silent room and it took all of Julia's energy not to lean in closer to Barnabus to feel what little warmth his physical presence exuded. After all this time on her own in this rickety old house with its loopy brats and money grabbing men he was a welcome relief. Before his arrival drink was the only thing that seemed to connect her with something, the very audible clink of ice against crystal cut glass a small reminder of her futile existence.

The pump clicked off and Julia was aroused from her daydream to find a confounded Barnabus prodding the needle in his arm as if to ask why it had stopped retrieving his life force. Dr Hoffman forced herself to smile and told him that the machine had a lock on it that wouldn't allow her to use it for another 24 hours, she was lying of course but she had to ensure that he came back somehow. Dismayed with this seemingly useless contraption Barnabus pulled the needle from his arm and licked the end before placing it on the couch from which he had just risen and promptly left. _To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

Julia waited until she could no longer hear Barnabus's footsteps before she allowed herself to relax. He had believed her even though she was sure she had displayed all the tell-tale signs of lying. Julia took a few cautious steps towards the blood pump and leant over to examine it more closely. Little drops of translucent red liquid rested in the spiral tubes refracting the fading light. She tapped the side of the glass cylinder with her pen and watched closely as the last few droplets made their tortuously slow descent through the cavern of glass. As she watched she saw the reflection of the caretaker loading Barnabus's personal effects into the trunk of the car. She crossed the room without so much as glancing out the window and deftly switched two books on the shelf to reveal a panel in the back of the bookcase. she pressed her hand against it as though she wished to become part of it, the softness of the grained wood seemed to smooth her own skin.

The bookcase jolted backwards allowing Julia just enough room to force herself through into a dank passageway which would lead her directly to the side of the house. She reached behind her to force the bookcase back into place, leaning against it with just enough pressure to make it move as quietly as possible. Her hands scrabbled in the dark as she walked along the damp wall of the passageway which led her to the trapdoor at the other end. The exit of the passageway was not so easy to access, it was 10ft from the floor and only accessible by a small rope ladder fixed to the wall beside the trapdoor. The rungs in the ladder were widely spaced and the top rung was still a long way from the door itself. Julia had discovered the passageway not long after she moved to Collinwood and on finding its exit to be overgrown with weeds she had quickly developed an unexpected interest in gardening. She placed her pen between her teeth and grabbed the ladder with both hands, hauling herself up the widely spread rungs. Reaching the top she thrust herself upwards with all her strength to force the earth covered door upwards.

She placed her hands over the edge of the hole pushing them down into the damp undergrowth and clambered up onto the final rung of the ladder against the will of her feet. This took a great deal of concentration the required level of which she had lost after this afternoon's hair of the dog, she was sure that her hangovers had never been that bad before. She heaved herself up with her arms and landed unceremoniously chest down in the mud with her legs dangling in the wilderness of the hatch and she cursed for having not added new rungs to the ladder. She raised her leg up, kicking herself in the process before she managed to wedge her foot against the other side of the hatch. She grabbed hold of the trunk of a nearby shrub and pulled hard, with some gentle coaxing she managed to get her hips and then her thighs over the edge and onto the damp sod. She pulled her other leg up nearly losing her shoe in the process and began to inch herself forward pushing against the edge as far as her legs would allow her to stretch. She forced herself onto her knees and waited crouched in the bushes waiting for the caretaker to return to the house.

Julia did not have to wait long, she stood up backing towards the wall of the house as she did so, before inching forward to check that she wouldn't be seen. She moved as swiftly and silently as the gravel would allow and reaching the back of the Chevrolet she quickly unburdened it of Barnabus's luggage before hastily shutting the trunk and returning to the hatch at the side of the house. Here she threw the bags down the trapdoor and closed it behind them. She was just about to walk back to the car when she heard footsteps, she threw herself into the bushes, feeling the twigs snap beneath her weight but trying to lay as still as possible. Willie Loomis walked round the Chevrolet, kicking the gravel back into place when he noticed the trunk was not completely shut. Julia gasped as he turned to examine the trunk more closely and as he reached for the latch she threw the largest rock she could find towards him. It missed him by a few paces but clattered to the ground behind him, he wheeled around in a futile attempt at finding the source of the noise. As he scanned the ground a cat ran past and he cursed it for having scared him and chased it away before returning to the house having apparently forgotten about the open trunk lid.

Julia seized her chance and ran to the car, she threw the trunk lid up and clambered inside, she loosened her scarf and looped it through the latch before giving it a sharp tug slamming the lid shut above her. It was dark and cramped, her chest seemed to suffocate her as she struggled to get her arm free enough to remove her sunglasses, it didn't seem to make much difference but she could just make out the outline of the trunk space and how much room she would have if she needed to escape. She heard footsteps on the gravel, two pairs of feet. Julia screwed up her eyes childishly thinking that if she couldn't see them they wouldn't see her. The footsteps came nearer the noise of the gravel was muffled but she knew they were close, they stopped and the silence seemed to stretch forever before she heard it, the sound she'd been dreading, a hand grasped the latch on the trunk of the car and jolted it up and down, it rattled a few more times before Julia heard the footsteps scuff away across the gravel and she allowed herself to breathe once again. She heard the clunk of two doors and the engine sputter into life, it lurched into gear and she felt as though her bones had been shaken from their sockets. Julia clung to the ends of her newly tattered scarf as the car weaved its way down what felt like a cart track to Collinsport.

After what seemed like an hour on juddering roads the car finally ground to a halt and Julia heard Barnabus's muffled voice instructing his servant not to follow him before the door slammed shut and she heard his heels click past. She knew now was her chance and she seized it forcing her fingers around the latch to throw the trunk lid open and in an ill judged move flung herself over the edge of the bumper and landed painfully on the cobbles. She looked up from the ground just in time to see Barnabus's coattails round the corner of Angelbay Seafood, without a care for being seen or that the mud which covered her seemed to have seeped into her skin Julia followed him. Making sure to keep her distance she pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped inside, suddenly very aware of the mud on her shoes which combined with her blood alcohol level made it difficult for her to stay upright on the polished floor. She crept along the side wall following the voices at the end of the factory floor, she kept her back pressed to the wall watching her feet which seemed to be quieter and more sure of themselves when she was looking at them. She reached the office window and kneeling on the floor peered over the bottom ledge of the window she saw Barnabus and Angelique together. She watched in horror as they clawed at each other's clothes, Angelique's false nails tearing Barnabus's back into a series of ribbons. The blood leaked from him down her arms, he took her hands in his and licked the blood from each finger. He held her head as they kissed, eyes and lips locked together as though they were frozen in time. Julia had seen enough and she turned from the window, slipped off her shoes and ran down the hall. As she made it to the door and the cold night air hit her, she could no longer contain her tears, she was angry, betrayed and grief stricken, a raging storm of lust and hatred, she replaced her shoes and hurried back to the trunk of the car and covered by the sound of Willie Loomis's blaring music was able to return to the trunk in the darkness that matched her mood. _To be continued..._


	3. Chapter 3

"We must intensify our efforts" Barnabus stormed into Dr Hoffman's office to find her reclining on the couch, her legs pale against the black leather. Beside her was a bag of blood on a drip stand, its long spindly artery feeding itself into her arm. She heard his voice and flung her magazine aside, swinging her legs over the side of the couch. The floor was cold on her bare feet and as he came towards her she longed for him to take her in his arms so that she could calm his rage. He kept coming toward her the anger in his eyes forcing her to back away until she was up against the wall. she pleaded with him to let her live, that he had a gift, eternal life, begging him, reminding him he was a gentleman and he should spare her from death out of chivalry. "I'm sorry, I just... I don't wanna grow old, I want to be beautiful again... I wanna live forever like you."

He told her that he was no gentleman and that he would do anything to protect the honour of the Collins family. He closed in around her, his arms either side of her, pinning her to the wall. as he leaned nearer she could smell the dust of his coat, the lingering metallic smell of half death that came from his ritualistic soul draining. As he came even closer she reached out to touch his coat, as though she could pull him close in an embrace, anything to distract him from killing her, but she knew it was helpless, the fear in her eyes said it all, this was the very thing she'd tried to prevent and here it was, not as a result of alcohol or her depression, but at the hands of her would be lover. He lowered his head towards her, almost in deference and she could feel the heat of his body as he moved closer, the sharpness of his teeth made her shiver as they drew nearer to her neck. As they made contact it felt like two icicles had penetrated her skin as his tongue kissed the softness of her neck before he began to suckle on her. Dr Hoffman felt the blood leave her body as though she was watching, it was horrific to see but she was left with a sense of euphoria as her drained, unconscious body hit the floor. As she lay there all her need to hold this family of crackpots together left her and she vowed to do things for herself and herself alone. She would start with that bitch Angelique.

Barnabus dropped her body and went to the window, tugging down a curtain. He placed it over Julia as a makeshift shroud, tracing her outline with his eyes before kneeling beside her, tucking it around her like a blanket. He pulled the curtain back to reveal her face, frozen in its look of terror and anguish. He leaned over her to take one final look into her deep brown eyes that previously had shown so much interest in him, now they reflected the monster he had become. He pulled the curtain back over Julia's face, unable to cope with reflection he saw in her, the true mirror of his fading soul. What he did next was a blur, somehow he managed to get her body into the secret passageway in her office before going to find his darn servant who was always wondering off doing things around the grounds. Willie Loomis barely questioned what he was being asked to do, it was as though he had little independent control of his mind any longer since Barnabus had arrived. He gladly took the curtained package to the car and down to the docks. He assumed it was one of the Vampire's odd mannequins that he had found in the cupboard, dressed to look like hippies and construction workers, each with the same vacant look. If Loomis hadn't been so drunk he perhaps would have realized the more gruesome tale of the so called mannequins, but as he was he continued with his instructions and took this one out in a rowing boat. He passed the end of the gangway and kept rowing further out until he was nearly out of hooch. Here he stopped and threw the package out of the boat into the freezing ocean beneath the cliffs. It was only as he was rowing back to shore that he realized he'd recognized the curtains it was wrapped up in, the faint smell of bourbon and cigarettes from Dr Hoffman's office.

To Be Continued...


	4. Chapter 4

Doctor Julia Hoffman did not like life underwater. When people said she'd end up in the drink she had assumed they were joking, making a pun on her alcohol consumption, not that one day she would end up weighted down by a concrete block in a makeshift sack bound by curtain ties at the bottom of Collinsport Bay. She had grown accustomed to the temperature as the blood in her veins now did not need to keep her organs from failing, but it was the buffeting by the waves she couldn't stand. She wasn't sure how long she'd been here but she did know she was starting to get sick of the taste of fish, curious sods. In spite of the surrounding nosey sushi, Julia had found time to reevaluate her life, something which finding your newly immortal self weighed down at the bottom of the ocean was surprisingly helpful for.

Over the short time she'd know Barnabus she'd allowed herself to become attached, it hadn't been intentional but there was something about his refined manner and family loyalty which reminded her of her father. Her father, Julian, the original Dr Hoffman, had been a man of few words and even fewer emotions preferring to lock himself away in his study than play with his children. Her brother, "Khal" as he called himself had been different, too different. When he was 22 and Julia was 15 her big brother had walked out of their lives for good, run off with hippies to smoke dope and hug trees. Julia's mother Marguerite had a breakdown when her son left, but then again Julia knew she'd always been weak willed, never stuck at anything, she'd only married a doctor because she was a good cook and had a pretty face. Julia knew that a family of her own was too much to ask for, especially at her age. Could vampires even have children? She didn't know, nor did she want to, but she was already missing young David. For all his neuroses he was a sweet kid even if his father was a letcherous pig. Julia shuddered to remember that one drunken night they had shared which she swore never to repeat, he'd been rubbish anyway and it was no way to try to get to mother little David, no she'd have to think of something else.

Barnabus Collins sat on the psychiatrist's couch, as he had done on his first visit when Julia, beautiful Julia, had explained to him the concept of Doctor-Patient confidentiality. Julia reminded him of a girl he'd once seen on the putrid streets of 18th century Liverpool, long since in the ground, not unlike Dr Hoffman. He thought of Angelique and how she had taken control of his life. He thought of Josette, in many ways Julia had reminded him of her, she had the same energy, a hatred of life so brutal she was determined to see it out to the bitter end through stubbornness alone. He allowed his mind to drift as he thought of Dr Hoffman, the way she had touched his soul, her eyes that night, her fear in death. He hadn't realised how attached he had become to the psychia-whatsit, that intense glare from her horn rimmed spectacles, the way she hung on his words as though her life depended on it. Of course he knew now why she had believed her life truly did depend on it. His thoughts turned to Victoria, the new woman in his life, his infidelity. How Angelique would do anything to come between them. How she would react if she found out they were together. Victoria's distraught face when she learnt he was a vampire. What Angelique would, he leapt from the couch running through the house towards Victoria's room. Not finding her he turned to see the ghost of David's mother leading him to the front door, David turned to him as he passed, "she said Widow's Hill." Barnabus's heart sank, he couldn't risk losing his love again over the cliffs and he fled the house as swiftly as he could in the direction of the sea.

Vicky continued walking in her trance like state through the dark forest towards her destiny. As Barnabus neared the edge of the cliff he saw Victoria lingering on the edge of the precipice, he could barely muster the strength to speak as she leaned forward towards the waves crashing on the rocks below. Barnabus caught her just in time, "I thought I'd lost you" "you have lost me" she replied, "I live in the light". Barnabus did not know how to respond, he loved her yet did not wish her to meet his fate "No, I will not see you suffer as I do. Never." Upon hearing these words Vicky leaned backwards falling over the edge hurtling towards the jagged rocks below. Without thinking Barnabus flung himself over the edge, catching her in his embrace in mid air, biting into her soft supple flesh as they fell. He prayed it would be enough to save her life, even if it was a half life together it was better than an eternity apart.

The splash woke Julia, she had been dozing trying not to attract the attention of any more wretched fish. She looked up to see Vicky and Barnabus clinging to each other, both struggling to swim against the tide beating them back onto the rocks. She watched as he made his way onto land and tenderly pulled Vicky free from the waves, she couldn't hear what they were saying but it was of little consequence to her, she just knew that she had to get back ashore and back into his arms. To do so that little liar Vicky would have to go.

To be continued...


End file.
